Socialist Fightback Students

Over 130 people packed packed into a small classroom at Montreal’s Concordia University on Nov. 19, to discuss the kidnapping of 43 students in Ayotzinapa and developing mass movement in Mexico. The event was organized by Fightback/La Riposte in cooperation with SOSporMexico (Montreal); discussions took place in English and French, with consecutive translations. The discussion was very animated and passionate, with many people bringing forward many important points and contributions.

On Thu. 27th Feb., the Socialist Fightback Club, in association with the Hands Off Venezuela campaign, hosted an event at York University titled, “Stop the Right-Wing Coup! Defend the Venezuelan Revolution!” This attracted an audience of about 50 attendees from all walks of life, with the overwhelming majority being youth. Camilo Cahis, a member of Fightback’s editorial board and spokesperson for the Hands Off Venezuela campaign in Canada, delivered a thirty-minute presentation that provided insight into the attacks on the government and revolutionary movement of the masses in Venezuela.

Today, students and youth can clearly see the problems currently facing society, and this is clearly the case when it comes to the crisis of the environment. For this reason, on 22nd January, the Socialist Fightback Student Association at Concordia University held a discussion about the environmental crisis and possible solutions to this problem from a Marxist perspective. Approximately 25 people were in attendance.

Over the past month, significant measures have been taken by the administration at York University to limit freedom of speech and to stifle democratic dissent. This has included an outright ban of the Students Against Israeli Apartheid group (SAIA), at least until 2014. This ban followed a wave of student organizing around the issue of Israeli imperialism and the occupation of Palestine.

Over the past year, there has been an unprecedented interest amongst students across Canada in the fight against rocketing tuition fees. In light of the Quebec student movement, impressive efforts were made by a growing layer of active students across the country to spread the movement to the rest of Canada. However, we need to be honest with ourselves; as we approach the end of the autumn semester, there is unfortunately little political activity to be seen among the students in English Canada. Why isn't a student movement being built in English Canada? Is it because the students are not interested in collective struggle? Are the youth content with the status quo?